Retro Friday: Hollywood Village People

Back one summer when my family was living in the Philippines, one of the Manila TV stations would play music videos every morning before signing on. Thing is, they were the same videos every single day. If I remember, the videos included “Suddenly,” from Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richards, and “In the Navy” from the Village People. I still remember my sister and I marching around the house to this video when we were kids… hey, at the time, we really did assume it was just a song about the joys of the Navy.

I bring up the Village People because they’re among this year’s Hollywood Walk of Fame recipients. Also receiving stars: Ben Kingsley, Hugh Jackman, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Cameron Diaz, Robert owney Jr., Tim Burton, Leslie Caron, Charles Durning, Ralph Fiennes, William Petersen, Kyra Sedgwick, John Stamos, Mark Burnett, Chuck Lorre, Kenny “Baby Face” Edmonds, Dave Koz, The Miracles, Doug Morris, Rush, Shakira, Tinkerbell (!), KFI’s Bill Handel and Harry Shearer, who’s receiving his star for his KCRW show, not “The Simpsons” or “Spinal Tap.” also provides voices for characters on “The Simpsons.”

Retro Friday: Hollywood Village People

Back one summer when my family was living in the Philippines, one of the Manila TV stations would play music videos every morning before signing on. Thing is, they were the same videos every single day. If I remember, the videos included “Suddenly,” from Olivia Newton-John and Cliff Richards, and “In the Navy” from the Village People. I still remember my sister and I marching around the house to this video when we were kids… hey, at the time, we really did assume it was just a song about the joys of the Navy.

I bring up the Village People because they’re among this year’s Hollywood Walk of Fame recipients. Also receiving stars: Ben Kingsley, Hugh Jackman, Felicity Huffman, William H. Macy, Cameron Diaz, Robert owney Jr., Tim Burton, Leslie Caron, Charles Durning, Ralph Fiennes, William Petersen, Kyra Sedgwick, John Stamos, Mark Burnett, Chuck Lorre, Kenny “Baby Face” Edmonds, Dave Koz, The Miracles, Doug Morris, Rush, Shakira, Tinkerbell (!), KFI’s Bill Handel and Harry Shearer, who’s receiving his star for his KCRW show, not “The Simpsons” or “Spinal Tap.” also provides voices for characters on “The Simpsons.”

Another L.A. Radio Shakeup Is On The Way

Expect a format change soon on R&B “V100″ 100.3 FM, KRBV-FM — the station that was once hip-hop “The Beat.” Since becoming a more mellow urban AC, the listenership on 100.3 has plunged.

Enter Bonneville, the radio group (owned by the Mormon church) that once had a presence here in L.A., owning outlets such as KBIG-FM 104.3 and country KZLA 93.9. Bonneville is back in L.A. and the new owner of 100.3, in a $137.5 million transaction.

Early rumors have hinted that Bonneville might flip 100.3 FM to a news/talk format. The company has had success with FM news/talk in other markets, including D.C.

If that happens, expect some real shuffling, as pundits believe Clear Channel would be prepared to put KFI on FM, dumping one of its music formats (such as Hot 92.3 or Star 98.7) in the process. Clear Channel would want to protect its news/talk franchise, the scuttlebutt goes — and the idea of a KFI-FM has been floating around for years.

But the message boards over at Radio-Info wonder if Bonneville will go news/talk, given how saturated L.A. already is with two news stations and countless gabbers.

That’s why another rumored format is making the rounds: Country. Would Bonneville bring some twang to the 100.3 frequency? And if so, what would independent owner Saul Levine do with his KKGO-FM 105.1, which flipped to country when KZLA 93.9 dropped the format?

With all this mixing and moving, perhaps there’s an opportunity for an underserved radio format to also return to L.A. airwaves. What would you like to see — a real album-oriented rock station? Dance? Adult alternative?

And Boom Goes The Radio Tower

KFI’s hopes of finally erecting a new 684-foot broadcast tower in La Mirada were dashed Tuesday, when it came crashing down. K6RIX.com was there, and took shots of the collapse (above, and below).

KFI has been broadcasting from a temporary stick since 2004, when the station’s old 760-foot tower collapsed after a small plane crashed into the tower while trying to land at nearby Fullerton Municipal Airport.

It took several years to get approval for the new tower, but construction finally began on Saturday. According to KFI, the tower had risen to about 250 feet on Tuesday, when it crashed around 2:30 p.m.

K6RIX.com reports that one person was injured, but thankfully most of the damage was confined to the tower:

Nobody was on the tower during this phase of the installation and only one person was hurt when the North/East guy structure gave away. There was some minor damage to a couple of trailers and the top 8′ of the gin pole came through a warehouse roof. Other than that, there is just a bundle of steel and ceramic in the parking lot with some damage to the enclosure wall and fence.

K6RIX.com caught a shot of the tower in mid-collapse:

Jack’ed Up

The spring Arbitrons are in… and it looks like a good start for KCBS-FM and its new “93.1 Jack FM” format.

KCBS, of course, axed its long-running classic rock “Arrow” format earlier this year and replaced it with the “Jack” format, which has spread rapidly across the country. Listnership for the station among audiences 12+ jumped from 1.7 percent of the L.A. market in Winter to a 3.0 share in spring.

The “Jack” format boasts a wide playlist and no DJs, and takes pride in its “train wrecks” of back-to-back songs (I still think the L.A. version just isn’t adventurous enough, and that it needs to get more risky, and play more new music, if it wants to last.) Many radio pundits argue that the “Jack” fad will begin to fade as the novelty wears off (just as what happened in the past with “Pirate Radio,” “Mega” and other formats that launched big and then died down).

Meanwhile, it looks like “Jack” hit its sibling Infinity alternative rocker KROQ the hardest. KROQ slipped from fourth to a tie for eighth place in L.A. this time out.

In the battle for first place, KIIS-FM (which merges its ratings with sister Antelope Valley station KVVS) squeaked ahead of usual winner KPWR “Power 106″ this time out.

Other winners this spring included Spanish KLAX, which jumped from a 3.0 to a 4.0 share and a tie for third place with two more Spanish outlets, KLVE and KSCA. For those of you playing at home: KLAX is the station with “El Cucuy,” KSCA’s morning DJ is “Piolin,” and KLVE plays Spanish love songs.

In other ratings: Talk leader KFI saw its numbers dip slightly; KDLD/KDLE “Indie 103.1” posted its best results yet; and in its debut as an Air America affiliate, KTLK improved on what the station had been posting as a sports outlet.